Takeo Saeki
Takeo Saeki (佐伯剛雄 Saeki Takeo) born March 6, 1960 in Tokyo, Japan, is a secondary antagonist throughout the franchise, appearing in nearly every installment in one form or another. He was originally portrayed by Takashi Matsuyama. In both the Japanese and the American versions, Takeo is the murderer of Kayako, his wife, following his discovery about her secret feelings for another man, as well as their son, Toshio, and their cat, Mar. His rancorous act gathers the grudge curse that inhabits their house and affects anyone who steps inside. Takeo is portrayed by Yasuhito Hida in Ju-on: The Beginning of the End ''and ''Ju-on: The Final. History Japanese timeline .]] Takeo was an illustrator working in Nerima, Tokyo, Japan, where he lived with his wife Kayako and only son Toshio. As evidenced in the Ju-on novelization, Takeo Saeki is very possessive and jealous of anyone who steals Kayako's attention; when his wife says she likes a particular actor on TV, he gets very angry. One day, Takeo discovered through Kayako's diary about her secret love for another man, the boy's teacher Kobayashi. Going insane, he becomes obsessed with the idea of an active love affair between Kayako and Kobayashi and believes that Toshio is not his biological son. Takeo stabbed Kayako to death, wrapped her body in plastic and set it in the attic, before killing Toshio's pet cat Mar. He later murdered Kobayashi's pregnant wife Manami, ripping out her fetus afterwards. Takeo then called and taunted Kobayashi, asking him to take care of Toshio, as he had assumed his role of father to "Kobayashi's child". Having a conniption in the streets, Takeo then died under the curse he himself created, as he noticed Kayako's ghostly figure emerging from inside a plastic trash bag. Aftermath During his visit to the Saeki residence, Kobayashi heard Toshio complaining to his mother that Takeo had killed his cat, and telling her that he had left "for good". Takeo was reported to have died "in the streets" after his murderers, implying that he was found dead at some point after his murders. His ghost, or a manifestation of the curse, became able to possess anyone who stepped inside the Saeki residence (or became affected by the curse), or directly kill the person, recreating his murders. The second family that owned the house were the Kitadas, and Takeo's spirit influenced the husband Hiroshi to become aggressive, and he is walloped by his wife Yoshimi, who was also possessed by Kayako. After the Tokunaga family moved into the house, Takeo's spirit possessed Katsuya, who under his influence suffocated his wife Kazumi, and placed her body in the attic, and kicked his sister Hitomi out of the place, while she was visiting them. Takeo's ghost directly murdered Rika, in the very same way he did to Kayako. The Beginning of the End Takeo is portrayed in the reboot as a businessman constantly absent from home. His lonely wife Kayako, who strongly desired to have a child, decided to have so without him, and the ghostly boy who lived in their house before their arrival returns to life through her. Toshio grew up annoyed with Takeo and constantly stayed away from him, which gradually made Takeo suspicious of Toshio's true origin. He later discovered the truth from Kayako herself, who told him the boy was not his. Enraged, Takeo snapped her neck in front of Toshio, left his pet cat burn to death inside the microwave and murdered the boy, gathering a grudge curse in their house. His whereabouts after the murders, however, are left unknown. Jutake2.png|Damaging pictures of Kayako. Jutake.png|Takeo angering. Jutake4.png|Takeo approaches Kayako's body. Jutake3.png|Takeo picks Mar. Jutumblr m4j83pMUIV1r7w10go2 250.gif|Takeo taunts Kobayashi with his unborn daughter. Grudgepicture.png|In a damaged picture found by Kobayashi. Jutake5.png|Pictured on a news report. Jutake7.png|Kyoko has a vision of Manami's murder. Jutake6.png|Takeo haunts Kyoko from her vision. Grudgekatsuya.png|The curse takes over Katsuya. Ju-on.jpg|Rika about to die through Takeo's hands. Ju-diary.png|Takeo discovers his wife's secrets in her diary, in the game intro. ju-tak-game-3.png|As he appears in the game. ju-tak-game.png ju-tak-game-2.png|Takeo about to commit suicide. juZ322023372.jpg|Takeo in The Beginning of the End. juBrqqpFrCcAASRAt.jpg|Kayako comfronts Takeo in Beginning of the End. American timeline and about to kill her.]]After reading about her love/obssession to Peter Kirk, Takeo killed Kayako by breaking her neck, hiding it in the attic, and drowned both Toshio and Mar the cat in the bathtub, setting the boy's body inside the wardrobe. He then hanged hilmsef in the boy's bedroom. After the Williams family, newcomers from America, owned the house, his spirit took over Matthew Williams, who dragged his wife Jennifer by her hair to the attic, and kicked his sister Susan out of the place. Matthew was found dead in the attic afterwards. The ghost directly recreated his murders by killing Aubrey by killing her the same way he killed Kayako. The curse reached an appartment building in Chicago, and Takeo's ghost influenced Bill into suspecting his wife Trish was having an affair. Bill gradually assumed an aggressive behavior and was killed by a possessed Trish, with a frying pan. Trish's hanging body was later found by her stepson Jake. With the building completely subdued to the grudge curse, Takeo's ghost possessed Max, who assaulted his boss and the building's owner, Mr. Praski, and expelled his sister Lisa from their appartment. A sneaky Lisa managed to get their younger sister Rose out of there. Max later stabbed Kayako's sister Naoko in the neck, and recovered himself right after when Rose completed the ritual to end the curse. Max was soon visited by Naoko's vengeful spirit, and was killed by it. maxresdefault.jpg|Takeo rages over Kayako. Saekifamily.png|Pictured on a news report. Grudge1Screen10.jpg|Karen finds a picture of the Saeki family. Grudgemattjen2.png|Takeo reflects as a possessed Matthew walks by the lobby's mirror. Grudge-tak.png|Detective Nakagawa is murdered. 48.jpg|Karen finds Takeo's hanged corpse. grudge-take.png|In Karen's last vision. Grudge2 midi.jpg|The possession of Max. Grudge7746b0212e6ab3cb00d38d7ff9b9bc10.jpg|Naoko is murdered. Notes and trivia '' films references Tomoka and Noritaka's deaths in Ju-on: The Grudge 2.]] *Rather than his own, Takeo's demise in the Western series references Tomoka and Noritaka's deaths in Ju-on: The Grudge 2. The couple is hanged by Kayako's ghostly hair and Toshio's ghost "plays" with them afterwards. *It is unclear if Takeo's apparitions occur only as a manifestation of the curse, or if he in fact became an onryō as well. In the DVD commentary of a scene deleted from Ju-on: The Grudge, however, Takashi Shimizu refers to him as a "ghost". *It is unknown how old Takeo was in the Ju-on series, but in The Grudge films, according to a news article, he is 35 years old when he dies. *In the Ju-on: The Grudge intro, Takeo is portrayed by an unknown actor and his fate differs from both Ju-on and The Grudge continuities. After he discovers Kayako's secret and murders her, Takeo commits suicide with a hanging noose. *In the ''Ju-on'' novel, his death differs once again - Kayako's ghost kills Takeo by stabbing him in the back with a knife. *In the Director's Cut version of The Grudge, he is seen hanging by Kayako's hair, implying that her ghost was responsible for his death, thus making him the first victim of the curse. See also *Possession Category:Male Characters Category:Ghosts Category:The Grudge characters Category:Ju-on characters Category:Ju-on Male Characters Category:Deceased